Residential fireplaces include a firebox which is ordinarily open for wood or other fireplace fuel and the smoke and other gases are drawn from the firebox through a chimney allowing exit to the exterior of the dwelling. The firebox is ordinarily constructed of masonry, lined with a metal box which is in turn lined with fire brick. The chimney is ordinarily a masonry structure lined with a refractory tube designed to provide a passage for smoke and other combustion gases while preventing the gases from direct contact with the exterior masonry surfaces.
Replacement of fire brick and repair of the firebox itself is a relatively simple matter because it is easily accessible to the worker. However, imperfections, cracks, breaks, mortar deterioration, and the like which occur within the chimney itself are often not easily accessible and repairs become both difficult and expensive. Often the only solution to chimney liner deterioration is to dismantle and completely rebuild the chimney.
At least one known apparatus for removing chimney linings includes a heavy rotatable tool which is lowered into the chimney and, while rotating, the tool is designed to strike the lining and crush it. Unfortunately, the tool does not discriminate between the lining and the exterior support brick. As a result the tool sometimes damages the brickwork and even more extensive repairs are required.
There is a need in the industry for apparatus which will allow the scraping, cleaning and smoothing of the inside of a chimney to remove the old defective liner and replace it without having to dismantle all of the brick work.